Keira Knightley Starrer “Last Night” to Open Rome Fest

Keira Knightley Starrer "Last Night" to Open Rome Fest

Massy Tadjedin’s directorial debut, “Last Night,” starring Keira Knightley, will open the upcoming Rome Film Festival (IRFF), which kicks off on October 28 and runs to November 5. The romantic thriller, which co-stars French hearthrob Guillaume Canet, Sam Worthington and Eva Mendes, will close this year’s Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Another hotly-anticipated title, John Cameron Mitchell’s “Rabbit Hole” (also playing at TIFF), is slated for the Rome fest’s 2010 lineup. “Hole” features Nicole Kidman in the lead role and marks her debut as a producer. Aaron Eckhart and Diane Weist costar in the tale of a couple who grapple with the sudden loss of their only child.

Italy’s first 3D film, “Winx Club 3D: Magica Avventura,” from director Iginio Straffi, will get its world premiere in the festival’s youth-oriented section, Alice nella città. IRFF’s Focus Section this year will spotlight Japanese cinema, and will dedicate a special event to Akira Kurosawa on the centenary of his birth. To celebrate the director, the festival will screen a restored version of Kurosawa’s “Rashōmon.” Director Satoshi Kon, who recently passed away, will also be honored in a Focus tribute.

In addition to the films, the Duetto conversation series in the Extra Section, will this year feature a conversation between the two Italian stars Margherita Buy and Silvio Orlando. Past duos in the series have included Bertolucci and Bellocchio; Servillo and Verdone; and Muccino and Tornatore.